


Velaris

by shieraseastar03



Series: ACOMAF [3]
Category: A Court of Thorns and Roses Series - Sarah J. Maas
Genre: F/M, Mentions of the Inner Circle (ACoTaR), The Night Court, Velaris
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-03-26 12:56:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19006240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shieraseastar03/pseuds/shieraseastar03





	Velaris

Wind and night and stars wheeled by as he winnowed them through the world, and the calluses of his hand scratched against her own fading ones before… Before sunlight, not starlight, greeted her.

 

“Welcome to my home, Shiera darling”. “This is… This is amazing. What is this place?” the princess asked overwhelmed because of the beauty of the city.

 

A city… a world lay out there.

 

Morning sunlight streamed through the windows lining the front of the town house. The ornately carved wood door before Shiera was inset with fogged glass that peeked into a small antechamber and the actual front door beyond it, shut and solid against whatever city lurked beyond.

 

And the thought of setting foot out into it, into the leering crowds, seeing the destruction  Amarantha had likely wreaked upon them… A heavy weight pressed into her chest.

 

“We are in the Rainbow of Velaris, the home of the artists. I brought you here before anywhere else because I thought you would like it” Rhys said softly while he slid his hands inside his pockets. 

 

“If I’m staying, when could I be able to visit the city?” she asked afraid of being locked again. He felt her nervousness and  explained kindly, “This city is completely yours, you can visit any part you want, whenever you want. But I would recommend not to leave this city alone, the spell of protection ends when you leave it”.

 

“This is a safe city… I mean, the streets...?” Shiera inquired remembering some cities of her world. “This is the safest city you will find, you could walk naked every night and nothing would happen”.

 

“It’s true that I wanted to show you this part of the city, but I think there’s another one that you might prefer” he told her offering his hand, Shiera accepted it and they winnowed again, this time where the calm river ended and met the bright and wild ocean. 

 

Shiera's heart stopped. She was by the sea, her beloved ocean… The princess looked at the wonderful blue waves crashing in the rocks where they were, the river that divided the city moved like a sleepy blue snake and ended in a wonderful sea surrounded by mountains. 

 

“This is…” she whispered to the High Lord but her voice broke and couldn't continue, “So… I was right bringing you to the water?” he purred and she nodded with her green eyes lined in silver. 

 

“Is it safe this water?” the green-eyed princess asked, “Everything here is safe. The only thing to be careful is that this waters are deep, but you don't have to fear about the animals inside” Rhys spoke looking at the young princess. 

 

Shiera looked at the sea then turned her face to Rhys, gave him a conspiratorial grin, and jumped with elegance inside the blue water. 

 

Shiera forgot everything and she focused only in the wonderful feeling of being in the water. It wasn't like the warm tides of  Summer Court, it was more like her village’s water, not as cold but near. She swam without air but she didn’t need it, she felt like a mermaid, she could touch the golden sand, the dancing green seaweeds and the colorful fishes swam surrounding her.

 

Rhys was looking at the waves and he saw under them his mate swimming like a dolphin, touching the sand, seaweeds and fishes. She wasn’t breathing but he felt that she was breathing… water, that shouldn’t be possible but she was doing it even if she hadn’t noticed it. Rhys felt when Shiera let out a laugh under the water and a big wave came out from nowhere and crashed with strength in the bay, when she swam in circles a small eddy appeared and he understood that she could control the water and breathe under it because of the magic gifts she had been given when she was resurrected.

 

That water gift was from Tarquin and maybe she could also have more gifts like Rhysand’ own daemati powers, winnowing, Beron’s fire or Kallias’ ice. 

 

And thinking about that, Rhysand saw how his broken mate felt free and happy for the first time in 6 months.

 

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

The Inner Circle members were at one balcony of the Town House as they saw how their High Lord's young mate was swimming in the Velaris' sea. 

 

They couldn't believe that she was the one who had married a High Lord, defeated Amarantha in three trials, killed the Middengard Wyrm, gave her life to safe Tarquin, held her dying husband and accepted to marry Tamlin only to escape from her memories, and the sixteen-year old female who was their five hundred-year old High Lord's mate. 

 

For Alec, his father had been like a ghost that three months, he had felt guilty and shattered about what happened with his wife, abandoning his son and his family, sad and worried about what could happen to his mate. But now, he saw that in his father's face a smile appeared while he was looking at the princess who was swimming. 

 

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

Shiera emerged from the waves like a ocean queen. “This has been… Amazing. Thank you” she whispered with a shy smirk as salty water fell from her wet dark hair. 

 

Rhys captured every single detail of her, her wavy wet hair, the free smile of freedom, the wet clothes that wrapped her curves perfectly. 

 

“Would you want to see the city? Would you like to fly?” Rhys asked her, “Fly… I can't fly” Shiera said with confusion and Rhysand opened his huge wings that hadn't been shown before, she had only saw a shadow of them Under the Mountain.

 

“I could carry you. It's safe… I promise not to drop you” he purred. Shiera accepted with a little smile and Rhysand took his mate in his arms as they jumped into the sky. 

 

She yelled with the adrenaline and wrapped her arms around his neck, “You promised…” she spoke and he purred “I won't drop you, Shiera darling. Don't worry”.

 

They landed in the roof of the Town House. Shiera walked to the edge of the roof and sat with her legs hanging. Rhys sat with her and began to show and explain the parts of the city and the river as she listened with curiosity. 

 

“So… You live here…” she said as she wrapped her arms around her crossed legs against her chest and rested her chin on her knees. Rhys nodded. “The house under us is my Town House, where I live. And that house” he said pointing at one house that was placed in a side of a mountain, “Is the House of Wind. That's where we deal with the politics of my Court. Some members of my Inner Circle live there and others in this house” he explained. 

 

“What do you want to do now?” he purred, “I think I haven't been asked that since… I can't even remember” she confessed with a sad smile, “Well… I told you, this Court is yours, you can do whatever you want. I know that I told you that you could walk naked but I would recommend not to do that” he spoke and won a little grin of Shiera. 

 

“So… What do you want to do, darling” he asked again, “I don't know… I don't know this Court so… I don't know what to do” she confessed. 

 

“What would you recommend me?” Shiera purred and he felt surprised, she was asking him about what she could do there, she wanted his advice… 

 

“There are many options… You could visit the city, alone or with me, stay in this house and read (I have a huge library and it's all yours of you need to read), I could also give you paintings… Or you could meet my Inner Circle. It's up to you” he declared. 

 

“Would you like me to meet your Court? Don't you think I would feel… out of place?” Shiera asked fearing that Rhys would say the same as Tamlin about politics and her knowledge about them. 

 

“Maybe you could because you have never meet them before but I think you are smart enough to understand politics, even if you weren't born in Prythian” Rhys told her. 

 

“I think I want to take a bath and sleep until tomorrow’s lunch… But tomorrow, could your show me Velaris? I think I have to know the city before meeting your… Inner Circle” Shiera confessed, “I will order you a bath for today and tomorrow I'll have the honor of showing you Velaris” Rhys agreed. 

 

“Your Inner Circle… How does that works?” Shiera asked the High Lord, “There are 5 people in it, 2 of them are like my brothers, 2 of them are blood family and the other… It's difficult to explain, but when you meet her, you'll understand” Rhys explained to her. 

 

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

 

Squinting at the brightness, Shiera found herself standing in what was unmistakably a foyer of someone’s house. The ornate red carpet cushioned the one step she staggered away from him as she surveyed the warm, wood-paneled walls, the artwork, the straight, wide oak staircase ahead.

 

Flanking them were two rooms: on her left, a sitting room with a black marble fireplace, lots of comfortable, elegant, but worn furniture, and bookshelves built into every wall. On her right: a dining room with a long, cherrywood table big enough for ten people.

 

Down the slender hallway ahead were a few more doors, ending in one that she assumed

would lead to a kitchen. 

 

A town house.

 

This house… this house was a home that had been lived in and enjoyed and cherished.

 

And it was in a city.

 

Rhys leaned a broad shoulder against the carved oak threshold that led into the sitting room and crossed his arms. “This is my house. Well, I have two homes in the city. One is for more… official business, but this is only for me and my family”.

 

Rhysand opened his mouth, but then the silhouettes of two tall, powerful bodies appeared on the other side of the front door’s fogged glass. One of them banged on it with a fist.

 

“Hurry up, you lazy ass” a deep male voice drawled from the antechamber beyond and Shiera noticed that there were wings peeking over their two shadowy forms.

 

Rhys didn’t so much as blink toward the door. “Two things, Shiera darling”. The pounding continued, followed by the second male murmuring to his companion, “If you’re going to pick a fight with him, do it after breakfast”. That voice, like shadows given form, dark and

smooth and… cold.

 

“I wasn’t the one who hauled me out of bed just now to fly down here” the first one said. Then added, “Busybody”.

 

Shiera could have sworn a shy smile tugged on Rhys’s lips as he went on, “One, no one but… two members of my family and I are able to winnow directly inside this house. It is warded, shielded, and then warded some more. Only those I wish, and you wish, may enter. You are safe here; and safe anywhere in this city, for that matter. Velaris’s walls are well protected and have not been breached in five thousand years. No one with ill intent enters this city unless I allow it. So go where you wish, do what you wish, and see who you wish. 

 

Those two in the antechamber” he added, eyes sparkling, “might not be on that list of people you should bother knowing, if they keep banging on the door like children.” Another pound, emphasized by the first male voice saying “You know we can hear you, prick”.

 

“Secondly” Rhys went on, “in regard to the two bastards at my door, it’s up to you whether you want to meet them now, or head upstairs like a wise person, take a nap since you’re still looking a little peaky, and then change into city-appropriate clothing while I beat the hell out of one of them for talking to his High Lord like that”.

 

There was such light in his eyes. It made him look… younger, somehow. More mortal. 

 

Rhys looked like he might say something else, but a female voice, crisp and edged, now sounded behind the two males in the antechamber. “You Illyrians are worse than cats

yowling to be let in the back door”. The knob jangled. She sighed sharply. “Really, Rhysand? You locked us out?”.

 

“You decide, princess” Rhys purred anyway. Shiera stared at him for a moment and finally declared “I would like to see my room”.

 

He gave her a smile, bowed a bit by the waist and winnowed her upstairs and then he disappeared again.

 

She could still hear that first male voice say “Welcome home, bastard” followed by the shadowy male voice saying, “I sensed you were back. Alec filled me in, but I...”. That strange female voice cut him off. “Send your dogs out in the yard to play, Rhysand. You and I

have matters to discuss”.

 

That midnight voice said with quiet cold that licked down my spine, “As do I.” Then the cocky one drawled to her, “We were here first. Wait your turn, Tiny Ancient One”.

 

The upstairs hall was punctuated with chandeliers of swirled, colored glass, illuminating the few polished doors on either side. Shiera wondered which belonged to Rhysand as she heard her another female’s bright voice ask: “Why is everyone here so early? I thought we were meeting tonight at the House”.

 

Below, Rhysand grumbled“Trust me, there’s no party. Only a massacre, if Cassian

doesn’t shut his mouth”. “We’re thirsty and hungry” that first male, Cassian, complained. “Feed us. We were about to have breakfast”.

 

“Pathetic” that strange female voice quipped. “You idiots are pathetic” the bright female said, “We know that’s true. But is there food?”.

 

Nuala and Cerridwen opened a door, leading to a fire-warmed, sunlit room. 

 

Her room was a dream.

 

After scouring it for any sign of danger, after learning every exit and entrance and hiding place, Shiera paused in the center to contemplate where, exactly, she would be staying for… She even didn’t know for how long.

 

Like the palace that Rhys ahd show her, its windows were open to the world beyond, no glass, no shutters and sheer amethyst curtains fluttered in that unnatural, soft breeze. 

 

The large bed was a creamy white-and-ivory concoction, with pillows and blankets and throws for days, made more inviting by the twin golden lamps beside it. An armoire and dressing table occupied a wall, framed by those glass-less windows. Across the room, a chamber with a porcelain sink and toilet lay behind an arched wooden door, but the bath… 

 

The bath.

 

Occupying the other half of the bedroom, her bathtub was actually a pool, hanging right off the wall itself. A pool for soaking or enjoying herself. Its far edge seemed to disappear into nothing, the water flowing silently off the side and into the night beyond. A narrow ledge on the adjacent wall was lined with fat, guttering candles whose glow gilded the dark, glassy surface and wafting tendrils of steam.

 

Open, airy, plush, and… calm.

 

This room was fit for an empress. With the marble floors, silks, velvets, and elegant details, only an empress could have afforded it. 

 

Shiera tried not to think what Rhys’s chamber was like, if this was how he treated his guests.

Guest, not prisoner. Well… the room proved it.

 

The walls of this city have not been breached for five thousand years. Meaning Amarantha…

 

“How is this city here?” Shiera asked to Nuala. “How… how did it survive?”. Nuala’s face tightened, and her dark eyes flicked to her twin, who slowly rose from a dresser drawer, fleece-lined slippers for her in hand. 

 

Cerridwen’s throat bobbed as she swallowed. “The High Lord is very powerful” Cerridwen said carefully. “And was devoted to his people long before his father’s mantle passed to him”.

 

“How did it survive?” she  pushed. A city, a lovely one, if the sounds from her window, the garden beyond it, were any indication lay all around me. Untouched, whole. Safe. While the rest of the world had been left to ruin.

 

The twins exchanged looks again, some silent language they’d learned in the womb passing

between them. Nuala set down the brush on the vanity. “It is not for us to tell”. “He asked you not to...”, “No” Cerridwen interrupted, folding back the covers of the bed. “The High Lord made no such demand. But what he did to shield this city is his story to tell, not ours. We would be more comfortable if he told you, lest we get any of it wrong”.

 

*****************************************************************************************************************************************************

 

Her breath came faster and faster. She didn’t realize she was weeping until she grabbed the first bit of fabric within the armoire she could find and shoved my feet into the ankle-length pants, then pulled the short-sleeved matching shirt over her head, the hem grazing the top of my navel. The princess didn’t care that it had to be some Night Court fashion, didn’t care that they were soft and warm.

 

She climbed into that big, fluffy bed, the sheets smooth and welcoming, and could barely draw a breath steady enough to blow out the lamps on either side. But as soon as darkness enveloped the room, her sobs hit in full, great, gasping pants that shuddered through her, flowing out the open windows, and into the starry, snow-kissed night.

  
  



End file.
